


Uphill

by herbailiwick



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-27
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-08-18 03:40:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,706
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8147905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/herbailiwick/pseuds/herbailiwick
Summary: Greg is sick. The gems all want to help him feel better, including their newest recruit.





	

Greg rolled over and sniffled. Cracking his eyes open in the light of the setting sun, he could see his thermometer, sitting there, waiting. All alone.

Kind of like he was.

Sighing at himself, he sat up, pulling the blanket around his shoulders. There was something about a cloudy head and the light of a sunset that just made everything seem so...otherworldly, like a dream, like...like Rose’s room.

He sighed again. Would it be an easy trek up the hill to the house? No. But he didn’t feel like being alone with memories. When his head got cloudy it felt harder to put things in a positive light, like the light bulb that took care of that was dim and flickery.

Half way up, he was greeted by Garnet, who picked him up and carried him the rest of the way so easily he was almost surprised.

“Uh...thanks,” he muttered, embarrassed, clutching uselessly at the thermometer.  


“Don’t mention it,” she said pleasantly. “I sort of saw this coming.”  


Greg chuckled quietly. “Okay,” he said, letting his eyes close.

Garnet sat him down firmly on the couch, eyeing him for a moment, hand under her chin in thought. “Pillows,” she said.

“Garnet, what are--oh, hey there, Greg,” Pearl said, staring at Greg too. “Um.”  


“I just got lonely. I’m fine. You don’t have to _do_  anything,” Greg said, voice a little scratchy, keeping his volume down because it required less effort.  


“Maybe...maybe I’ll make soup,” she offered.   


Greg blinked. “Sure. You don’t...you don’t have to, though.”

“She’ll make soup,” Garnet confirmed.  


"We take care of Steven _all_ the time when he gets sick. You humans are basically all the same,” Pearl said, her spirits lifting into a quiet sense of smugness. 

“Nurse Pearl,” Garnet chuckled at the idea. “Steven and Amethyst will be back soon. They’re fused and testing out their new powers,” she told Greg, who lay back down carefully, pausing only as Garnet sped toward the nearest pillow, placing it under his head with Sapphire speed.  


“Uh. Thanks,” he muttered.  


As he was really trying to get settled into the pillow, the door slammed open, and Greg jumped. “What?!”

As if the universe didn’t _want_ Greg to relax, the woman slamming open the door he’d picked out himself was Steven’s latest friend, and latest success story, Jasper. “Garnet,” she said without any introduction. “What is Mr. Quartz doing here?”

“You know my name,” Greg sniffed, narrowing his eyes a little.   


“He couldn’t make it up the hill. What gives?” She approached, her steps quiet, but not in the stalking, war-borne way he’d seen from her, like a hunter, but more like...an observer, trying to study him. It was way more unsettling.  


“Tissues?” he asked Garnet, who found some and brought them back in a literal flash of movement. He blew his nose, thanking her, ignoring Jasper for a minute.  


“I’m sick, Jasper,” he said finally, suddenly feeling too tired to talk much. Jasper had such an _energy_  about her, always wondering, always _lumbering_ , so big, so loud, so strong, so clueless. So _present_.  


“You’re an Earth gem, right? You know, sick?” he pressed. Honestly, it wasn’t particularly nice of him to get on her case about her knowledge of humans, but she brought out a pettiness in him he didn’t even know was there, one he had forgotten about. Yelling as a teenager back at home, so pushed around, so neglected and bitter, that had been one thing. He’d gone to therapy for that. He was supposed to be older and wiser. 

And yet, here was this much older gem, much larger gem, but she was so...full of youthful curiosity. She didn’t have volume control, didn’t know her own strength half the time, kind of like Garnet, but much less aware of her actions.

A warrior. She was a big gem warrior, and a decent tactician, and she was so _orange_. Kind of too much energy, too much _color_ to look at sometimes. “Look, Jasper. Either you help out, or go away, cause I’m exhausted. Plus, you just slammed the door.” 

Jasper tossed her head back and laughed, amused by Greg yet again. He kept getting annoyed, and she kept enjoying his reactions. What had she said? His _honesty_. It was a strange cycle. Greg kind of enjoyed that honesty, that _freedom_ , too. Usually. But his body was way too sore, and Jasper’s amusement felt too personal all of a sudden. He pulled the blanket around himself even more.

“What’s this?” Jasper, distracted from Greg suddenly, headed over to watch Pearl, who had been cutting up some vegetables while the water started to boil.   


“Nooooothing,” Pearl said evasively. If she just acted like it wasn’t interesting, maybe Jasper would give up.  


Jaspers never give up, Greg reminded himself.

“It’s _not_ nothing. You’re cooking,” Jasper said, gesturing to the stove. “You’re obviously cooking.”  


“Jasper,” Garnet said, having already decided to be a sort of guide for Jasper’s adjustment to being a Crystal Gem. “Sometimes humans feel better when they’re sick if they have some soup.”  


“Soup! I know about soup!” Jasper said, gaze returning from looking over her shoulder to frowning back at Pearl. “I’m from Earth!”  


“Yes, we know,” Pearl sighed.  


“I’ll help you! I can cut even faster, I bet. We’ll be done even quicker!” she insisted, and she was so _earnest._  Pearl rolled her eyes. 

“Fine. But _let him rest_. Humans need plenty of fluids and plenty of rest when they’re ‘sick’,” she recited as if something she understood only in theory and not in practice. Good old Nurse Pearl.

“Don’t call me Mr. Quartz,” Greg called from the couch, letting his eyes close.   


The next thing Greg knew, there was a light grip on his shoulder and he was stirring awake, blearily getting a view of a wide-eyed, grinning orange face way, _way_  to close to his own. “AHH! Jasper, what?!” he demanded.

“We finiiiiished the sooooooup,” she said with a slight glare as she backed up. “Greg,” she added awkwardly. 

Greg huffed, reaching for a tissue so he could cough a few times. Not that gems could catch the flu, but it was only polite.

“I want you to feel better,” she said more quietly. “And not worse.”  


Greg’s gaze softened. “Okay,” he said, accepting the bowl from her, her hand seeming to dwarf it. “Alright.” 

Greg noticed Garnet was watching the interaction pretty closely. When she saw him noticing, she said, “I’ll get Smoky. It’s about time they came home.”

Pearl wasn’t in the house at all anymore, as far as Greg could see.

“I’ve never seen you look so fragile,” Jasper offered, taking a seat on the floor.   


“Didn’t like it, huh?” he asked, and she shook her head.  


Greg took a moment to try the soup, which was the perfect temperature. “That’s actually kind of sweet,” he admitted to Jasper.  


“It was salt, not sugar. Pearl checked.”  


“Hm? No. I don’t mean this,” he gestured to the soup. “I mean you. Caring about a dumb old human like me because I felt sick.”  


Jasper reached out slowly, her hand resting itself over Greg’s on the side of the bowl.

“Um??” Greg felt himself blushing. Or was that just his fever returning?  


“You really are sick,” she said with sympathy. “You just called yourself old and dumb.”   


Greg smirked, looking at Jasper with amusement, not really minding her hand over his, how it sort of dwarfed his. Yeah, normally he found himself hard-pressed to admit weakness in front of Jasper.

“Maybe I’m just feeling sort of fragile. Or?” She raised a brow at that, wondering what he was going to suggest. “Maybe your worrying over me means I can let my guard down for once.”  


Jasper stared at him, grip tightening just a little on his hand. They sat eyeing each other for a moment until Garnet came back with Smoky and they finally put some distance between them again.

Garnet had a knowing look on her face. Greg didn’t really want to know what that was supposed to mean, if it was supposed to mean anything. If it was really important, she’d probably rib him about it at tennis. 

Smoky unfused and Amethyst started begging Greg to show her some of his snot or to try, just _try_  to puke. Steven’s eyes got watery as he said, “I know you got sick when we went into town. Sorry, Dad!”

“I’m gonna be fine! Jasper fed me some soup.”   


Steven frowned suddenly, looking at Greg’s hand, the one Jasper had been...almost holding. “She didn’t...make it, did she?”

“God, no. Pearl did that.”  


“I CAN COOK!” Jasper shouted, making Greg feel frustrated all over again.   


“No one invited you, Jasper,” Greg pointed out. “And you should be careful or you’re gonna break the door, slamming it open like that.”  


“Awwww, yeah! Quartz power!” Amethyst exclaimed, and Greg sighed as she high-fived Jasper for being such a powerhouse.  


He took another taste of the soup. It was perfect, Pearl levels of perfect. “Nurse Pearl,” he sighed, mostly to himself. 

He added, “Nurse Jasper.” When Steven heard that, he giggled. It wasn’t exactly in Jasper’s nature. The idea was so at odds with the Jasper they’d first met.

Greg watched Jasper stand and scoop Amethyst up in her arms for a big hug, though, like it was only natural. There was only a hint of hesitation. 

He had always believed people could change, just like Steven did, and Rose had. Steven kept proving it time and time again. 

“Maybe Steven can catch it,” Amethyst said. “Then, we can fuse! I wanna experience this!” 

Greg hummed slightly, eating more of the soup. Maybe part of him just didn’t feel all that old or dumb anymore, not like he used to growing up, not like he had before helping the gems with audio. Maybe it wasn’t just defensiveness Jasper made him feel. Maybe part of it was confidence too.

“I’m not gonna intentionally get my son sick,” he told Amethyst, so she would stop pressing. “It feels bad.”  


“Oh. Right,” Amethyst acknowledged.   


The warmth of the soup flowed out from Greg’s chest and stomach.


End file.
